37. Chase
37
CHASE
“ H ey, man,” I clipped, trapping my phone between my ear and shoulder as I handed the kid behind the counter a twenty for the pizza.
Steve was probably calling to ask where Bridget and I were at. He and Erica had date night tonight, which meant they’d grab a bite at the bar and pretend they were going home to have sex when we all knew they’d be hitting the hay. Their kids were awesome, but they were fucking exhausting.
“Where’s Bee?” he shouted over the sound of a siren.
My stomach turned sour, bile rising into my throat. “Home? I’m just out picking up a pizza. Why?”
“Get there,” he yelled. “Dispatch got a 911 call. They think it’s her. The call connected, and the operator’s listening, but Bee’s not talking. Just Kingsley.”
I was already running. The pizza was left splattered on the floor in front of the takeout counter. I didn’t think twice about leaving the heap of grease, sauce, and melted cheese pooling on the tile .
The glass door bounced off the side of the building as I dove into my cruiser and squalled tires getting out of the lot. My house was only a mile away, but I went the whole way with lights and sirens screaming.
The acrid scent of burning rubber blew through the vents as I peeled through downtown Beaufort. My heart was pounding in my throat. Vaguely, I heard Steve say that he was en route, but all I cared about was getting to her. Keeping her safe. Protecting her.
I would die for Bridget. No hesitation.
I careened into the yard and threw open my door. Steve’s Challenger roared up beside mine, a symphony of lights and sirens coming in behind him. I ignored the cacophony of voices telling me to stay back until a team could organize to go inside.
Domestic violence calls were some of the most deadly. Tension was always high. Emotions clouded judgment. What would start as a normal argument could turn into an obituary.
We had procedures for a reason.
But I didn’t think about any of that. Bridget was my girl. Mine.
I bolted inside, already drawing my firearm. Sounds of a struggle echoed down the stairs. Bridget yelped in pain, letting out a strangled cry for help.
My feet thundered up the steps as I swallowed the fear.
Whatever he had done to her, I couldn’t worry about it now. I had to stay front-sight focused.
“Police!” I bellowed as I kicked the door open.
Bridget was pinned to the bed. Bright streaks of red stained the linens. Kyle had a gun pressed under her chin. She scratched and clawed at his hand, hips swinging to get leverage to gain control. Luna bared her teeth, snarling as she bit down on Kingsley’s calf. Blood trickled from his leg.
Damn, I loved that dog .
If I held him at gunpoint, there wasn’t a doubt in my mind that he would shoot her. I holstered my firearm and dropped my shoulder, charging across the room and tackling him off the bed.
Kingsley squeezed the trigger.
The bullet slammed into the drywall as Bridget tucked into the fetal position.
“Chase!” Bridget screamed as she scrambled off the bed. Her Jokers tank top was torn, and bruises bloomed across her cheek.
“Run!” I shouted.
She didn’t.
Kyle socked me in the stomach, knocking the air from my lungs.
“Chase!”
“Trust me!” I shouted, gasping for breath and dodging another punch. “Go to Steve!”
“Chase, no!”
Kyle was scrambling for his gun. I grabbed the back of his shirt and threw him into the wall. Plaster and paint from the popcorn ceiling rained down on us.
“I love you!” I shouted. “Go!” There was a slight relief as I heard her running down the stairs. Luna was hot on her heels.
Kingsley’s fist connected with my jaw. The swing rattled my teeth. I growled as I shook it off.
Blood was streaming from his nose, coating his teeth in a villainous pink stain. He smiled like a cartoon nemesis. “I knew I should have married that cunt and locked her up when I had the chance.”
I dodged his fist and grappled for a submission hold. “If you had married her, I would have made her a widow.”
The hold wasn’t coming. He was too scrappy for me to get the upper hand. People who have nothing to lose usually are .
Kyle’s gun spun on the floor, just out of reach. We eyed it at the same time. Kyle let go of me, making a leap for the weapon. I had a one-hand feel on mine as I kicked him in the stomach and used my elbow to pin the splayed hand he was reaching for the gun with.
He howled in agony as bones crunched under my weight. I didn’t know what I had broken, and I didn’t care. I just hoped it hurt.
Footsteps thundered up the stairs. Kingsley must have sensed the sand in his hourglass running out.
Desperation makes people do stupid things. He reached for the gun that was holstered at my side. I punched him square in the face, doubling down on whatever Bridget had done to his nose. Grabbing his wrist, I pushed it to the breaking point, then pushed harder.
That was my girl he’d had his hands on.
I shifted my weight, twisting until I had him locked in an armbar. The sickening crack of more bones breaking was enough to get him under control.
The room spun as someone in full tactical gear hauled me off the bag of bone shards that was Kyle Kingsley.
“Go to her,” Steve barked. “She’s with EMS.”
I raced down the stairs into the yard, ignoring the radiating pain lancing through my body.
The night sky was lit up in red, white, and blue. Beaufort PD had the house surrounded. Fire trucks blocked off the street. EMS was parked in the yard, the doors wide open as two paramedics huddled over a figure lying on a stretcher.
Hannah Jane held Bridget’s hand as Isaac stood guard beside them.
“Bridget!” I shouted as I bolted across the dewy grass. “Out of my way,” I clipped, pushing through the paramedics .
Bridget looked up, squinting to see through the mirage of flashing lights. “Chase!” Tears filled her eyes as she tried to sit up.
“Lay down, darlin’. I’m here,” I said, gasping for air as I crumbled at her side. “I’m here. It’s over. It’s all over.”
“Detective, you’re hurt,” One of the paramedics said, urging me to sit down on the edge of the open ambulance. “Let us check you out.”
“No. Take care of her. I want her to go to Carteret Presbyterian. Full work-up.”
“ Her has a name,” Bridget said through her tears.
I pressed my forehead to hers. “How the hell are you cracking jokes right now?”
She sniffed. “I’ve had a lot of practice.”
“Shit, darlin’.” I couldn’t hold it in anymore. Tears flooded my eyes as I collapsed on top of her.
Three times I had almost lost Bridget. Once when she got engaged. Another when that twat goblin nearly killed her. And again, tonight.
I wasn’t about to go for a fourth.
A sharp whistle pierced the air—Steve’s signal that they were about to perp walk the shit stain to a cruiser.
“Help me up,” Bridget said as she pulled a blanket around her shoulders.
I snapped back into cop mode. “Darlin’, they’re about to walk him out. Eyes on me. I’ve got you. Just look at me. Don’t look at him. You never have to see him again.”
“No,” she choked out, swallowing back tears. “Let me see him.”
“Bee—”
“Chase,” she said firmly as she sat up on her own and watched as Steve and another cop led Kyle out of the house. “I want him to see me. To know that I won.” The cruiser that awaited him was too close to the ambulance for my liking .
“Dear God, I hope Mel isn’t working tonight. If they take him to the ER before jail, he’s fucked,” Hannah Jane muttered.”
She had a point. Mel would snap him like a twig and enjoy every minute of it.
Steve avoided eye contact with Bridget as they dragged Kyle to the car.
Kyle caught sight of Bridget and lunged for her, slipping out of the two men’s grasp.
Bridget cocked her fist and nailed him in the face with a mean right hook. His hands were cuffed behind his back, so I wasn’t sure what he planned on doing. But he surely didn’t expect Bridget to nail him with four knuckles to an already-flattened nose. Her foot came up, and she kicked him in the nuts for good measure.
Isaac snorted as he tried his damndest to stifle a laugh.
“That’s assault!” Kyle whined as he cried over his deflated testicles. “I wanna press charges!”
Steve crossed his arms over his chest. “I didn’t see anything.”
Officer Dunnigan mirrored Steve’s stance, looking down at Kingsley. “Me either.”
“We didn’t see a damn thing,” the paramedics chimed in.
“I’ll wreck your careers!” Kyle shouted, sneering like a comic book villain as he was hauled back to his feet. “I’ll have your badges!”
I planted my feet in front of him. “The only thing you’ll have is three pitiful meals a day for the rest of your life. That, and the knowledge that I’ll be out here in the free world, loving my girl the way she deserves. And since I have a serious lack of hobbies, I think I’ll become a pen pal.” I took another step forward, encroaching on his personal bubble. “When you go to sleep at night on your threadbare cot, just know that I will personally write to every inmate on your cell block and tell them exactly what you did. And every time you get moved to a different block, a different jail, a different prison—I’ll write to everyone again. There won’t be a jailbird in the country who won’t find out what you did. They’re gonna make you pay every fucking day you have left in your miserable life.” I laughed in his face. “Sleep tight, princess. I hope you enjoy being someone’s bitch.”
Kyle spat at me, spraying blood all over my lucky shirt.
Now he was really going to get it. I clenched my fists, but Steve was there to stop me.
“Come on, Dunnigan,” he said to the other cop as he started marching Kyle toward the car. “Let’s take out the trash.”
I climbed into the ambulance as the paramedics loaded Bridget’s stretcher inside. Hannah Jane and Isaac promised to stay and lock up the house when the rest of the cops finished logging their evidence.
I took Bridget’s hand and kissed it. I wasn’t sure what to say. It was a strange mixture of anger and elation.
I was blaming myself that she had been hurt again, but I was relieved that it was over. No more texts. No more looking over our shoulders. No more worries of someone coming after her.
“Let me stay this time,” I begged, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “Don’t shut me out. Don’t lock me out. Let me hurt with you.”
The last thing I could handle was her pushing me away like she had the first time Kyle landed her in the hospital. I needed her as much as I wanted her to need me.
“Please don’t go.” Bridget’s eyes closed as we bumped our way to the hospital. She reached out and held my hand. “Stay. Now and always.”
Going back to the house so soon after Kyle broke in and attacked her wasn’t an option. Will showed up at the hospital and let us know that a room had already been reserved at the inn for us, and that he and Kristin would take Luna for a few days.
Neither of us had to stay at the hospital overnight, but that fucker had some fight in him. I was sore and bruised, but Bridget had gotten it ten times worse.
Chief Byrne put me on medical leave, and Maddie stepped up to run the bar’s day-to-day. According to Luca, her pastry team at Revanche needed to practice working without her for when she went on maternity leave.
Our room at the Taylor Creek Inn was still dark. The sun hadn’t even started to rise yet, and Bridget was in the middle of her third nightmare.
“Hey,” I said in a hushed tone. Bridget was curled up in the fetal position. Her head was tucked between her knees, and she was shaking. “Darlin’, wake up. It’s just a dream.” I curled myself around her, hoping she’d wake.
Her fists were clenched, shielding her face from the demons in her mind. I would have given anything to take her pain. To put it on my shoulders and bear the weight.
But I couldn’t. Instead, I held her and stayed beside her as she fought.
“Darlin’, wake up. ” I shook her gently.
She let out a heart-shattering whimper as her eyes opened, then flooded with tears.
“Hey, I’ve got you,” I whispered as she turned and curled into my chest. “You’re safe.” I pressed a kiss to her head.
Warm tears streamed down my chest as I held her. Bridget clung to me as she whispered. “Thank you for showing up.”
I tipped her chin up and kissed her through the tears. Salt mingled with the taste of her as I slid my tongue against hers. I wasn’t kissing her for sex. I needed to be closer to her. To remind myself that we were here. We made it to the other side. And even though the clouds still loomed, there was sunshine right around the corner.
Something better tomorrow.
“I will always show up for you,” I whispered as I pulled back. “Don’t ever doubt it.”
She wiped the damp streaks under her red eyes. “I’m sorry I woke you up again.”
“I want you to wake me up, darlin’. Okay?” I shifted to my back and stuffed the luxurious hotel pillow under my neck. “Come here.” I pulled her until she was on top, using me as a full-body pillow. I snaked my arms around her and gently rubbed her back. “Try to get a little more sleep, okay?”
Sleep lasted a few more hours. By the time I felt Bridget peel herself off me, the sun was leaking through the curtains. I found her in the bathroom, naked, staring in the mirror. Wide bruises covered most of her back and stomach.
I had felt a modicum of relief when Bridget told the nurses at the hospital that she didn’t need a rape kit done, but the evidence of how close he had gotten was all over her skin. Angry red lines curled around her breasts and hips, where he had clawed at her shirt and jeans.
I had held Bridget’s hand and reassured her that if she needed a kit done, I’d be beside her the whole time, telling her that everything was going to be okay.
In the sanctuary of the exam room, she sat in my lap and cried as the weight of the attack rained down.
I told her how much I loved her. How much that would never change. I proposed at least twice and kissed her a thousand times, all while swatting away nurses from giving me an exam until they were certain Bridget was okay .
“We’re quite a pair, aren’t we, darlin’?” I quipped as I grabbed the toothpaste and squeezed some on my toothbrush. We had matching bruises on our cheeks. The corner of my eye was purple. Hers was blue.
The only thing that gave me the slightest comfort was knowing I gave it to him twice as bad. Then my little badass finished him off with a clean shot to the face and a swift kick to the balls.
She offered a wry smile. “Must mean we’re a good match.”
I finished brushing my teeth and splashed a handful of cold water on my face. “How are you feeling?”
“Probably the same as you. I can’t complain.” She shrugged. “It could have been worse.”
“That doesn’t mean your pain is any less valid.” I stood behind her and kissed the back of her shoulder. “Tell me what hurts.”
She sighed, bracing her hands on the edge of the sink. “I’m really sore. I have a headache, but I think it’s from clenching my teeth all night.”
I started at her neck, kissing the finger marks that wrapped around her throat. I made my way down her spine, pressing my lips to the boot print bruise that marred her skin. I cupped the back of her knee as I knelt and peppered her hips and thighs with affection.
Straightening, I stood in front of her and took her hands in mine. Bridget’s knuckles were bruised and cracked from throwing punches like a UFC fighter. I kissed each one, hoping that a placebo would be enough to ease the pain.
“Where else does it hurt?”
She gave her temple a feeble tap with her finger. Her emerald eyes begged me to make it better. I pulled her into my arms, squeezing as tight as our injuries would allow. “Keep fighting, darlin’. I’m with you.”
“I love you, Chase,” she whimpered. “Don’t ever doubt it. ”
“I love you more than anything.”
She sniffed and put space between us. “I need to tell you something.”
Concern flooded my body. I cupped her cheeks, studying her face for signs of a missed injury. “Anything.”
She swallowed. “Steve may have accidentally seen my boobs.”